Thursday, May 8, 2014

Universal Releases Video of Gringotts Animatronic Goblins

Yesterday, the Today Show posted a video of Al Roker in the Gringotts queue. The internet was treated with a brief glimpse of the Goblins of Gringotts. Today, Universal posted a 27 second video of the Goblins, and the animatronics sure are impressive.

Just like in the Harry Potter films, guests will enter Gringotts through an ornate marble hall surrounded by Goblins perched atop high counters. Goblins are not fans of humans (or anything but gold and armor, they are really unpleasant actually.) In the movies, the Goblins can be seen sneering and scowling as witches and wizards walk by. The Goblin animatronics appear to remain faithful to their cinematic counterparts.

At the end of the hall, guests will be greeted by Bogrod who is shown in the video asking if we "would like to open an account?" Bogrod is the Goblin who Harry Potter casts the Imperius Curse on when he, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook break into Gringotts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Universal and Disney fans alike never miss the chance to complain about Universal's lack of audio animatronics in attractions. They also complain about Universal's over reliance on screens. Gringotts appears to be the best of both worlds. A close analysis of the Today Show and Universal clips reveals that there are at least 6 Goblins in the queue line. There are presumably more that have yet to be shown.

The reception of the Gringotts Goblins has been overwhelmingly positive on Twitter and Message Boards. However, there are still some theme park fans who seemingly cannot be pleased with Universal's animatronic efforts. Some criticisms are that the Goblins do not move realistically and that the heads seem "off." A rewatch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II may be in order for these people. The Bogrod animatronic is an accurate portrayal of the actor in the film. Furthermore, the Goblins do not move that much in the films. As mentioned earlier, they do not care for humans and really only care about money. In the queue, like the films, the Goblins are scowling, judging, and counting money. In my opinion, the Goblins are very believable and faithful to the films and source material.

Another criticism is that the animatronics do not compare to "Disney's best", but I am not even sure what that means. Please tweet us or leave a comment of an example of "Disney's best" animatronics.

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